Vernazza

2 Posts Back Home

An unforgettable walk along Italy’s beautiful Cinque Terre,

IMG_2908
THERE is something almost too perfect about the haphazard patchwork of homes clinging to the precipitous hillside, windows glistening and pastel walls glowing as the sun traverses the buildings.Vernazza is considered the superstar of the five picturesque villages that make up the Cinque Terre on the Italian Riviera, but there is little to choose between it and the others of an illustrious group — Monterosso al Mare, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore.

They are similar but not the same, all spectacularly beautiful but with their own subtle IMG_2831differences in dialects, traditions and rivalries. First officially recorded in the 12th century, the people of the “five lands” led a fraught existence, under siege from marauding pirates despite the ring of protective fortresses erected by their feudal protectors, until the threat eventually evaporated in the 1500s. They eked out an existence growing grapes and fishing.

It was only about a century ago that outsiders really discovered the quiet, natural beauty and less than 40 years since tourism transformed what was one of Italy’s best-kept secrets into an international drawcard. Now, hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world flock to the scenic Cinque Terre, most to complete the Sentiero Azzuro, the string of four paths linking the five villages.

The trail, sometimes so narrow two people cannot walk side by side, twists and turns,

Navigate
Follow

Get the latest posts delivered to your mailbox: